Day 1--The Last Homework Assignment

This blog is about trying to revive a partially completed dissertation that's been on life support for years.  I won't bore you with the details of why in the first post--I'm a part-time student who has a full-time job helping lead a educational non-profit.  I had two kids, one of them got (and is beating!) cancer. So yeah, a lot of shit.

Life has been getting back to normal the past few months, and people have been asking about my PhD/dissertation in one of 3 ways:

1. They refer to me as a PhD and I have to inform them that no--I never actually did finish my dissertation.

2. They ask me how the dissertation is going, and I chuckle and inform them it's not.

3. They act surprised that I'm in/still in a graduate program, since I started my PhD in the fall of 2006. Yes, fall of 2006.

So technically, I should have been DQ'd from the program at the end of Spring 2014 semester, or at least have started to lose credits since I've been going so long.  But because my son had cancer, and we were pretty much at his bedside for a year, I've been on a leave of absence since the fall of 2013 semester.  

Anyways, when people ask me how the dissertation is going (See #2 above), I usually admit that I could get the dissertation done if I could just put 100 hours into it.  Then I keep wondering where this 100 hours is going to magically come from...

...and then in the shower yesterday morning, I started thinking about it--100 hours is essentially a month or so of giving up TV/Internet/Chillout time in the evenings and dedicating it to the dissertation.  That's basically what a dedicated high school or college student puts into reading and/or homework every week night, so not totally unreasonable.  Plus, it's a finite number.  I push myself for 100 hours and see where it stands.

It's also worth noting that I fall for gimmicks that involve a finite amount of time.  The Whole 30. half marathon training plans, Lent--any sort of time-bound self-improvement plan resonates with me, so I figure giving the dissertation some short-term, intensive focus can't hurt.  Also, the metacognitive, self-aware, blogging it factor (which is admittedly very 2007--thanks a lot, Julia and Me) is kind of a draw, though I'm not sure I'll share this with anyone.  Maybe a few of my friends from my doctoral cohort that I still talk to.

So anyways, before I get started for the evening, here are the rough rules:

1. I put in a minimum of 1 hour a day on this--I was originally going to say 3 hours, but I also don't want to give up the first day I can't hit that amount.  I'm going to shoot for 3 every night, but have to put in at least an hour.

2. I keep going until I hit 100 hours or a completed draft.

3. Time writing this blog or doing indirectly related things (tweaking STATA, moving files around Google Drive, shopping for robes) doesn't count towards the 1-hour a day time cap or the 100 hour project limit.

4. Not sure how to count meetings with my advisor (who probably thinks I'm a joke by now), committee members (who will no doubt be surprised that I'm enrolled), and others--but for now, we're not going to count them until they come up or they prove helpful.

I realize that I should probably give an overview of the dissertaiton, but it's already 9:04, so I really ought to get writing.  I'll give an overview tomorrow night as well as how much time I've logged.